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Checkerboard
The Checkerboard era was the very first Cartoon Network era. It began at the launch of the network on October 1, 1992 and ended in the United States in June 1997. It was succeeded by the Starburst era. The era was named, by fans, both for the black and white Cartoon Network logo that resembled a checkerboard and for its bumpers, which featured tiles of characters featured on the network in a checkerboard pattern. As of 1997, the era's bumpers, promos, and IDs were still during the Starburst era being phased out up until March 1998, while the Powerhouse era was slowly being introduced beginning in December 1997. By April 1998, the Powerhouse era had officially taken over, and any traces of the Checkerboard and Starburst eras were completely gone. Programming When the channel launched, it relied on older shows from the Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Warner Bros. libraries to fill out its schedule. The first cartoon shown on the network was a classic Merrie Melodies short, "Rhapsody Rabbit". In 1993, the network began producing original animation, with its first original series being The Moxy Show. Only a total of 4 original series were produced during this era. During this era several notable programming blocks were introduced including: Boomerang, a classic animation block which became its own channel in April 2000; Super Chunk, a weekly marathon block that aired on CN from June 1994 to July 2001; and Toonami, a weekday action animation block that aired on CN from March 1997 to September 2008. CN Original Series *''The Moxy Show'' (premiered December 5, 1993) *''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' (premiered April 15, 1994) *''What a Cartoon!'' (premiered February 20, 1995) *''Dexter's Laboratory'' (premiered April 27, 1996) Acquired Series *''2 Stupid Dogs'' *''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'' *''The Addams Family (1973 Animated Series)'' *''The Addams Family (1992 Animated Series)'' *''The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda'' *''The Adventures of Gulliver'' *''The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan'' *''Arabian Knights'' *''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'' *''Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy'' *''The Banana Splits Adventure Hour'' *''Barney Bear'' *''Betty Boop'' *''Big Bag'' *''Birdman and the Galaxy Trio'' *''The Bugs Bunny Show'' *''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids'' *''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' *''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' *''Capitol Critters'' *''Casper and the Angels'' *''Cattanooga Cats'' *''Cave Kids: Pebbles & Bamm Bamm'' *''CB Bears'' *''The Centurions'' *''Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos'' *''Clue Club'' *''The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley'' *''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'' *''Devlin'' *''Dingbat'' *''Droopy'' *''Dudley Do-Right'' *''Dynomutt, Dog Wonder'' *''Fangface'' *''Fantastic Four'' *''Fantastic Max'' *''Fish Police'' *''The Flintstones'' *''The Flintstone Kids'' *''The Flintstone Comedy Show'' *''Freakazoid!'' *''The Funky Phantom'' *''G-Force: Guardians of Space'' *''Galaxy Goof-Ups'' *''Galtar and the Golden Lance'' *''Garfield and Friends'' *''The Gary Coleman Show'' *''George of the Jungle (1967 Series)'' *''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' *''Goober and the Ghost Chasers'' *''Godzilla'' *''The Great Grape Ape Show'' *''Gumby'' *''Harlem Globetrotters'' *''Heathcliff'' *''Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' *''The Herculoids'' *''The Hillbilly Bears'' *''Hokey Wolf'' *''Hong Kong Phooey'' *''The Huckleberry Hound Show'' *''Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles'' *''Inch High, Private Eye'' *''Jabberjaw'' *''James Bond Jr.'' *''The Jetsons'' *''Jonny Quest'' *''Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures'' *''Josie and the Pussycats'' *''Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space'' *''The Kwicky Koala Show'' *''Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har'' *''Loopy De Loop'' *''Looney Tunes'' *''The Magilla Gorilla Show'' *''Marmaduke'' *''Merrie Melodies'' *''Mighty Man and Yukk'' *''Mister T'' *''Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor'' *''Mr. Magoo'' *''The Mumbly Cartoon Show'' *''The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' *''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' *''The New Shmoo'' *''The New Yogi Bear Show'' *''O Canada'' *''Pac-Man'' *''Paw Paws'' *''The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show'' *''The Perils of Penelope Pitstop'' *''The Peter Potamus Show'' *''The Pink Panther Show'' *''The Pirates of Dark Water'' *''Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks'' *''Popeye the Sailor'' *''Pound Puppies'' *''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' *''The Quick Draw McGraw Show'' *''The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest'' *''Richie Rich'' *''Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long'' *''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' *''The Roman Holidays'' *''Ruff and Reddy'' *''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' *''The Scooby-Doo Show'' *''Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo'' *''Scooby's Laff-A-Lympics'' *''Screwy Squirrel'' *''Sealab 2020'' *''Shazzan'' *''Shirt Tales'' *''Sky Commanders'' *''Small World'' *''The Smurfs'' *''Snagglepuss'' *''Snooper and Blabber'' *''The Snorks'' *''Space Ghost'' *''Space Kiddetes'' *''Speed Buggy'' *''Speed Racer'' *''Super Chicken'' *''Super Friends'' *''The Super Globetrotters'' *''SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron'' *''Taz-Mania'' *''The Tex Avery Show'' *''Thundarr the Barbarian'' *''Thundercats'' *''Tom and Jerry'' *''Top Cat'' *''ToonHeads'' *''Touche Turtle and Dum Dum'' *''Underdog'' *''Valley of the Dinosaurs'' *''Voltron'' *''Wacky Races'' *''Wait Till Your Father Gets Home'' *''Wally Gator'' *''Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch'' *''Where's Huddles?'' *''Wildfire'' *''Yakky Doodle'' *''The Yogi Bear Show'' *''Yogi's Gang'' *''Yogi's Space Race'' *''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'' *''Young Robin Hood'' *''Young Samson'' In Other Countries The Checkerboard era began on Cartoon Network Europe in 1993 and was succeeded by the Powerhouse era in 1999. Trivia *An unknown music track heard in the bumpers of the Checkerboard era can be heard in the background on the intro of the promotional "A Taste of Cartoon Network" VHS tape as the full version. A recreation by Primal Screen Guy can be found here. Part of the track closely resembles Culture Club's "Church of the Poison Mind". Gallery Checkerboard Look Category:Cartoon Network Eras Category:Bumpers Category:Eras